I am delighted to report that the first webinar organised by our working group, which was on the topic of exosomes and ischaemic heart disease, was an enormous success. The three speakers, Professor Joost Sluijter, Associate Professor Lucio Barile and Professor Philippe Menasché, gave excellent and informative overviews of the essentials of exosome biology, and recent basic and translational studies illustrating how exosomes can be of benefit in treating myocardial infarction and preventing ventricular remodelling. In the end, there were 950 registered attendees and 538 live participants - a 57% conversion rate, which is one of the highest ever for an ESC webinar. This clearly demonstrates the strong interest in basic science and translational webinars amongst ESC members. It was also interesting to note that, according to the post-webinar survey, the attendees included an equal mix of cardiologists and scientists. For those who missed the webinar and would like to view it online, it is now available as a “webinar-on-demand” on the ESC website. We are now planning our next webinar for later in the year. This will be on another topic highly important in cardiovascular disease – mitochondria.
On behalf of the Working Group nucleus,
Sean M Davidson, Chairperson 2020-2022
Our mission: To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.